wedrifid comments on What I've learned from Less Wrong - Less Wrong

79 Post author: Louie 20 November 2010 12:47PM

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Comment author: wedrifid 20 November 2010 09:22:44PM *  0 points [-]

But there is no such thing as a "method of induction" which finds hypotheses for you.

Yes there is although one must of course already have some kind of vocabulary within which to represent hypotheses. It is finding a hypothesis out of an infinite number of hypothesis that such a method is useful for.

Comment author: AlephNeil 20 November 2010 09:29:34PM 1 point [-]

No there isn't, because as I have illustrated above, an 'inductive inference' pointing to a hypothesis presupposes a set of data selectively chosen and written down in such a way that the hypothesis is already present.

I think you probably have something else in mind, perhaps "abductive inference" (i.e. "inference to the best explanation").

Comment author: anonym 21 November 2010 11:15:40AM *  0 points [-]

Yes, abductive inference or some form of analogical thinking are how powerful hypotheses are really generated. Neither of the posts linked to in number 4 above even mention induction, so I'm not sure why the author thought they were evidence for the thesis.

Comment author: wedrifid 20 November 2010 11:12:18PM *  0 points [-]

abductive inference

That's the kind of science aliens use.